Growing up, the conductor Maxime Pascal was a self-identified musical dilettante. As a child in the south of France, he had some skill on the violin, and sat in on the piano lessons his mother taught. Now, though, Pascal, 37, is arguably his generation’s finest conductor of 20th-century music, as well as an essential interpreter of contemporary works. And his schedule reflects both the breadth of his ambition and the respect he has garnered on some of the industry’s most prestigious stages. This month, Pascal is at the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic for the Martinu rarity “The Greek Passion” at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.

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Persons: Maxime Pascal, Pascal, ”, Pierre Audi, Le Balcon, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht’s Organizations: New Orleans, Threepenny Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, Salzburg Festival Locations: France, Aix, Provence, Austria, Paris